Recount begins for Otero County Commission seat held by Couy Griffin

Nicole Maxwell, Alamogordo Daily News
·3 min read

The June 7 Republican primary election for the District 2 Otero County Commission seat was found too close to call by election officials, and a recount was held Monday to declare the Republican nominee for the seat.

The two contenders were former Republican Party of Otero County head and owner-operator at North 54 Salvage Amy Barela and Alamogordo Center of Commerce Executive Director G.B. Oliver.

The recount will determine which candidate was the winner of the Republican nomination who will go against Democrat Stephanie DuBois in the General Election on Nov. 8.

Both Barela and Oliver received about 50 prevent of the vote in the primary.

Barela received 801 votes compared with 786 votes cast for Oliver.

A recount of the ballots began Monday morning, and was expected to continue throughout the day.

The District 2 Otero County Commission Republican Primary recount began July 11 at the St. Willie Estrada Memporial Civic Center in Alamogordo. The recount came due to both Republican contenders receiving 50% of the vote. The winner will go against Democrat Stephanie DuBois in the November 8, 2022 General Election. The winner rof that race will fill the seat currently held by Couy Griffin.

"We have our great staff here," said Otero County Clerk Robyn Holmes. "We've got our great poll workers. We couldn't do it without them. They are the ones, our election board, they actually worked through the Primary Election and they agreed to come back today to hand tally. So, kudos to them. They're awesome."

The recount will see workers first going through the ballots from each polling location, comparing the ballots to a printout that shows how many ballots were cast at each polling location.

When the ballot counts are verified, the ballot recount begins.

The recount first involves counting 100 ballots from each voting kind. The verification shows whether the ballot cast were either early, absentee or on voting day.

If they are verified, then those 100 ballots are re-run through the tabulators, Holmes said.

More:GOP District 2 Otero County Commission seat recount to take place Monday

If the tabulators show the numbers match, then all the ballots from the ballot boxes are re-run through the tabulators.

The workers had 1,626 ballots to go through the process of the recount.

The recount began at 10 a.m. at Sgt. Willie Estrada Memorial Civic Center.

The recount came after Otero County commissioners voted last month not certify the primary election results, and the New Mexico Secretary of State's Office sought to compel the body to do so, filing a complaint with the New Mexico Supreme Court and New Mexico Attorney General's Office.

At a June 17 specie meeting, commissioners ultimately voted to certify the election, with District 2 County Commissioner Couy Griffin, who is not seeking reelection, casting the sole "no" vote on the canvass.

Couy Griffin's legal issues bring controversy to seat

Griffin's decision not to run for reelection followed numerous legal issues arising from his alleged actions in office and his activities with political advocacy group Cowboy's for Trump, which Griffin co-founded.

He was recently sentenced to 14 days time served in federal prison, a fine and community service for a federal trespassing charge that stemmed from his presence during the January 6, 2021 Capitol Riot in "Washington, D.C. He appealed the ruling.

Additional legal issues stemming from Griffin's actions while a county commissioner stemmed from his refusal to register Cowboys for Trump as a political action committee as was required by the New Mexico Secretary of State's Office, a New Mexico District Court arbitrator chosen by the Griffin/Cowboys for Trump camp, a federal court ruling and a federal appeals court ruling.

The New Mexico Attorney General's Office filed a criminal complaint against Griffin in the matter in March and a jury trial is set to begin Sept. 19, court records state as of July 11.

Another case was filed by New Mexico residents Marco White, Mark Mitchell and Leslie Lakind citing Griffin's participation in the January 6, 2021 riot as grounds for his removal from office.

That case was filed in New Mexico District Court then was in federal district court before it was remanded back to New Mexico court where a pretrial conference is set for July 22 and evidentiary hearings are set for August.

Nicole Maxwell can be contacted by email at nmaxwell@alamogordonews.com, by phone at 575-415-6605 or on Twitter at @nicmaxreporter. If you have questions about your subscription, please contact Customer Service at AlamogordoDailyNews@Gannett.com or call 1-877-301-0013.

This article originally appeared on Alamogordo Daily News: Recount begins for Otero County Commission seat held by Couy Griffin